Mischief Managed
by Madam Sakamoto
Summary: Admittedly, slipping a potion into an Asgardian prince's drink hadn't been nearly as difficult as she had thought it would be. Sneaking into said prince's room while he'd been sleeping was even easier. And gently prying his mouth open in order to tangle her tongue around his infamously silver one had been the easiest part of all. -Loki/OC-


_This started as something completely innocuous, and then turned into _this.

* * *

"And you're sure this will work?"

A snort from the smaller figure, followed by a rolling of eyes. "Yes, I'm sure. I'm not about to send you into a battle without a proper weapon, now am I?"

The taller woman quirked an eyebrow at her friend, but refrained from commenting. "Thanks again for this." She murmured softly, returning her gaze to the small glass vial in her hands, the liquid within swirling silver and opalescent white.

"For you, dear, anything." A crooked grin broke out over the younger's face. "Besides, who doesn't want to see that smarmy little prince taken down a peg or two?"

The elder woman chuckled softly, tucking the vial away in a pocket. "Well, I won't argue there, but do try to remember the real reason behind this little venture."

"Finding a way for you to snog the Liesmith senseless? Yeah, I remember."

That comment earned her a hard nudge in the ribs. "Shut-up."

* * *

Kára was not the type of person you would normally have associated with back-alley deals and suspicious vials of liquid that seemed almost sentient, but her usually calm mask hid a head full of schemes that she and her two wards had been putting into action their entire lives.

As a Valkyrie, it was unusual for her to have been charged with what would have passed as baby-sitting in Midgard, but since her charges had been Odin's own sons it seemed to make sense to give their care over to a woman who had the ability to actually protect them.

Over the years, as the two prince's had grown, their relationship had changed from one of watcher and ward to something bordering on actual friendship.

Kára purposefully kept herself a little distant from the boys, aware that attachments made you act rashly in battle and make mistakes that could cost allies their lives, but at the same time she had only been able to refuse Thor's bright smiles so many times.

Once the two were old enough to be looking after themselves, she finally found herself becoming more of a friend and confidante than a nanny, and she enjoyed the late nights when they would stay up in front of the fire and discuss any number of things.

But what she had enjoyed most was plotting out pranks to pull on one of the princes with the aid of the other.

On this particular occasion, however, she had enlisted the aid of an old friend in order to pull a prank of her own that neither prince knew of, and as she stood to one side of the banquet table and watched them jest back and forth, she almost felt a little sorry for what she had already decided to do.

Admittedly, slipping a potion into an Asgardian prince's drink hadn't been nearly as difficult as Kára had thought it would be.

Sneaking into said prince's room while he'd been sleeping was even easier.

And gently prying his mouth open in order to tangle her tongue around his infamously silver one had been the easiest part of all.

Loki hadn't even woken up when she'd accidentally tripped over the bench at the end of his bed while she'd beaten a hasty retreat, and she couldn't help but hope that he would have been more attentive to an enemy's presence than he was to hers.

In fact, no one seemed to notice anything wrong at all until the next morning when a slightly panicked brunette had burst out of his room and made a bee-line for his father's throne room, demanding that Kára be brought in for a conference.

When she'd arrived, trying her best not to grin and give herself away, Loki had been pacing a path across one side of his father's throne, and Thor had been standing with his arms crossed on the other.

"You called for me, All-Father?" She had to keep her features unnaturally blank as she looked up at him and caught Loki's head snapping up out of the corner of her eye.

"Yes… Loki has quite the accusation to make against you." Odin's tone was bordering on amused, as though he already knew how this would play out, and he seemed to be struggling with his own expression.

"You," the younger man began, stalking forward, "were in my chambers last night."

"I was," Kára's tone was utterly civil, "as I am most nights, prince, to ensure your safety."

"You were… Doing something."

Thor's eyebrow rose minutely. "Brother, if you believe Kára to have had some nefarious purpose I suggest you say such and have it over with."

"You did something to me." Loki managed; the tiniest hint of pink brushing up over his cheek bones.

Odin was looking even more amused now, and not for the first time Kára found herself wondering if the All-Father didn't know about these things long before they happened, but let them play out anyway. "I did." She supplied softly.

Thor looked genuinely interested now, and he angled himself towards her more, not moving from his original position. "And what, precisely, did you do to him?"

"She stole my magic." Loki's tone bordered on acidic, and Kára couldn't really blame him for the way his eyes narrowed and every muscle in him seemed to go tense. "And I demand that she return it this instant."

Thor laughed. And when Thor laughed in the throne room, it bounced off the gilt walls and washed back over you a second time, just in case you managed to miss the sound the first time around. "That is truly a feat to be proud of if it is true!"

Loki shot his big brother an icy glare. "It is no laughing matter, brother; I am unable to perform even some of the most common spells and it…" His complaint was cut off by another sound bouncing back off the gold walls around them.

Odin had chuckled.

All three subjects instantly snapped to attention, eyes gluing onto their king as he looked down at Kára with an unabashed smile. "Is this true?"

Both brothers looked at her expectantly. "I did, sire."

Odin's chuckle evolved into a laugh, and Loki looked utterly crushed as his father openly laughed at his misfortune. "A cunning feat indeed, Kára, I will say… But tell me, what is the purpose of this scheme of yours?"

Loki was about to interject, but Kára cut him off smoothly. "It was performed as an experiment, sire, and I apologize for the inconvenience I have caused your youngest because of my actions." She inclined her head politely in Loki's direction before continuing. "The spell will wear off soon enough, and he will be in full control of all his magic again."

Thor didn't catch the _all_ part of her comment, but Loki looked a little more relieved by the small, all-inclusive word.

"Father?" Loki prompted, still determined to get recompense for this sort of insubordination. "What would you have us do in the mean time?"

"I would have you leave Kára to her duties," Odin said calmly, chuckle still threatening to resurface, "and Thor, I would have you keep an eye on her."

Thor was smiling brightly; always pleased for a legitimate reason to keep Kára company, but Loki once again looked slightly dumb-struck. Apparently he thought it well within his rights to try everything in his power to regain his magic as quickly as possible.

Taking this as way of dismissal, Kára bowed and left, Thor quickly following her.

It took Loki until they were out in the hall to get the chance to cut her off and look her in the eye. "What did you do?"

"I thought you would have remembered, my prince," she said with a smile, "or were you sleeping too deeply for even that memory to be apparent?"

And suddenly that light dusting of color was back in his cheeks, and there was a slightly absent look on his face as she and Thor continued on down the hall without him.

* * *

"What did you do to him, exactly?" Thor had taken it upon himself to escort her everywhere, even her own room, and he was currently watching her go over her armor with polish. "I would not have thought it possible to steal someone's magic… Especially not Loki's."

"I used an unusual method of transfer." She managed to get out with a straight face. "I believe Loki will attempt to reverse the effects with the same method."

Thor's eyebrow was raised in a rather menacing way, and even if he hadn't had his arms folded, Kára would have known that she had no choice in the matter of telling him.

"He was asleep when I took his magic."

The eyebrow remained suspended halfway up his forehead, and she returned her gaze to the cuirass in her hands.

"I kissed him."

Thor's other eyebrow rose to join the first, and for several long moments he stared at her in silence. "I will assume you do not mean a chaste press of skin, when you say that." He eventually voiced delicately.

Kára shook her head, and only just caught the rather smug grin that was starting to work its way over Thor's features.

"And did you enjoy it?" She threw the nearest piece of armor at him, and he caught it with a laugh. "It is an innocent enough question, I believe," he moved to sit beside her, smirk still intact, "innocent enough for a thief of your caliber, at any rate."

She gave him a withering look but didn't respond, earning her an even wider smirk than before.

"So I thought."

* * *

"You do realize that I can see you perfectly clearly, do you not?" Kára managed to reign in her laughter as Loki moved the rest of the way into the room, scanning the area for any blonds before he moved towards her.

"You would not have been able to if you had not taken my magic." He muttered irritably.

"Well perhaps it is for the best that I did, then, if you make a habit of sneaking up and spying on me." She rejoined playfully, giving him a small smirk. "Do not look so putout, prince; your magic has only been borrowed. I cannot keep it indefinitely."

"How did you manage to borrow it, then?" He asked softly. "I hardly believe a kiss, no matter how passionate, can be solely responsible for this."

Kára felt a flash of something not quite guilt and not quite pride at the fact that he had remembered. "I'm afraid I cannot tell you."

"Surely you could make an exception?" And suddenly he was right beside her, posture relaxed and voice soft in her ear. "After all, it is not every day that someone outwits me at my own game."

Kára had heard this tone of his a thousand times before, either spinning out a tale for Thor or their father, or trying to win her over when he had wanted something that he shouldn't have. "I promised."

"Your confidante will never have to know," he assured her softly, "I am, after all, as skilled at keeping secrets as I am at telling lies."

Well that was certainly the truth, no matter how contradictory it may have sounded. "Loki, I…"

His lips were cool against hers, and his fingers felt absolutely frigid as they held her chin firmly in one hand. Kára's mind went blank, and for several long seconds, all she could do was stand there and let the prince have his way with her mouth.

It took her until Thor bodily pulled Loki away to realize what he'd been doing, and she felt herself suddenly feel very used.

Thor had started shouting something about a besmirching her honor, but Kára was only half listening, the rest of her brain trying to figure out whether Loki's little scheme had worked, or if he'd simply succeeded in making his brother mad again.

If the faint hum that was still apparent in her bones was anything to go by, Loki had simple succeeded in embarrassing himself.

"I'm fine, Thor." She managed after a moment of trying to get her breath back.

Loki read into that tiny sentence more than his brother, and she could see the disappointment flicker through his eyes for a moment before he was escaping his brother's clutches and practically flouncing out of the room.

Thor fussed over her for a few minutes more, but when she assured him the only thing he'd gotten from the exchange was a cheap thrill, Thor laughed it off and promised to stay closer to her from now on.

And she knew he would.

* * *

Loki's obsessive behavior continued for the next several days, and whenever Kára caught a glimpse of green and gold from the corner of her eye, there would be a blur of silver and red to head it off before it got any closer.

And whenever she felt as though there was a pair of bright eyes digging into her flesh, she didn't have to look to know exactly who they belonged to.

Thor went everywhere with her, taking his father's instructions to heart, and she had to remind him several times that as long as he stayed by the door to her bedroom, Loki couldn't slip in with his magic currently on hold.

More than once, though, she would wake up to find him asleep on the floor by her bed, or curled up next to the hearth.

He'd teased her gently about how their roles had been reversed from when he was younger, and she'd told him to not let it go to his head.

The game of dodge between the brothers went on for the better part of a week, and finally Loki caught up to her one day while Thor was in a meeting with Odin and couldn't be there to stop him getting within speaking distance of the Valkyrie.

"It hasn't returned yet." He was leaning casually against the railing of the balcony, pointedly not looking at her as she sat further towards the center of the room. "When exactly was this spell of yours supposed to wear off?"

"I'm not exactly sure," she replied as gently as possible, not missing the way he peered over his shoulder at her at this comment, "but if it does not revert soon, I will be returning it."

It was impossible to ignore the way he perked up at that. "Oh?"

"I don't like coming between you and your brother."

"You assume you are the only matter of contention the two of us have."

"Oh I'm not nearly as naïve as that," she smiled, "but you do not need one more reason to be at each other's throats."

He seemed to consider her for a moment before he returned his gaze to the view of the city the balcony provided. "I was imprudent to act so hastily. I should have trusted that you had a purpose for this prank."

It was as close to an apology as she knew she was going to get from him and it made her smile softly. "It is forgotten. But try not to fall victim to your whims again. I doubt it would be very good for your personal health if Thor caught you a second time."

What might have been a chuckle wafted its way across the room to her. "Strange advice coming from the woman who placed me in this particular predicament."

She smirked, standing and moving to place a hand against his shoulder. "I would never have put you in harm's way if I knew you wouldn't be able to dodge in time." Her fingers tightened minutely against the cool leather beneath her fingers, and then she was off across the room, headed to her room. "And speaking of dodging, do try to stay out of Thor's way when he's headed back from the meeting with your father. I doubt he'll be in any mood to see you slinking about in the shadows."

She felt more than saw his scowl, and only just caught the murmur that tumbled unbidden from his lips. "I do not _slink_."

* * *

It wasn't until two nights later, after a lengthy conversation with her contact from Midgard, that Kára told Thor to sleep in his own bed and not worry about her for just _one_ night.

He would worry, of course, but at least he wouldn't have to watch her return Loki's magic and worry at the same time.

Although, had he been present, worrying would probably have been lower on the list of emotions that her behavior might have elicited.

Returning the magic was much like taking it in the first place, actually, but the trick was managing to fall asleep while you _knew_ someone was probably going to sneak into your room at any moment and kiss you in your sleep.

Which admittedly might not have been the worst scenario for any number of Midgardian fairy-tales, but it didn't sit well with Kára when she knew she was the one being kissed.

So she decided to cheat.

Although she could have argued that drinking something to make her sleep along with the other half of the opalescent potion wasn't really cheating at all, she felt a little guilty about it anyway.

She still woke up when a cool set of lips landed against hers in the middle of the night, however; and if her hand hadn't connected with soft linen and warm flesh when she pressed against the intruder's chest, she might have clobbered the prince then and there.

But as a curious tongue worked its way around hers, she found it hard to do anything more than lay there and take the treatment, despite whatever commands her brain might have been screaming.

The magic left her in a tingling rush, and when she opened her eyes she caught a glimpse of vibrant green flickering through the pair staring back at her before they faded to their usual color.

"Thank you."

She was pleased to note he sounded slightly out of breath. "Oh, any time."

A dark eyebrow quirked upwards, and a faint smirk tugged at the corner's of his mouth, his fingers still gently gripping her chin. "Is that an invitation, Kára?"

She tried to pretend the shiver that danced down her spine was not caused by the way he said her name. "It is if there is anything to temp you back again, now that you have what you came for."

That smirk was fully on display now, and there was no mistaking the devious glint in his eye. "My magic, you mean?" And that tone from before, all silken and smooth, was back again. "Merely a bonus."

Another shiver slid along her spine, and she tried not to think about what might happen if Thor, all stubborn civility, decided to come and keep an eye on her after all. "Oh, what a pleasant thought."

"Not half so pleasant as you." He murmured, almost to himself, as he slipped sideways and managed to sink under the covers of her bed. "Do you think your guard-dog will mind if I take up his job for the evening?"

"I don't think he'll ever have to find out in the first place." She let her eyelids slip closed again, smirking. "But I'll be sure to inform him that his chaperoning will no longer be necessary."

"What a comforting thought," there was a chuckle in Loki's tone, "I would hate to have him bumbling in and interrupting the next time I decide to visit."

* * *

"You enjoyed it, didn't you?"

"Shut-up."

The shorter woman was smirking widely. "So, Mischief managed, then?"

Kára didn't miss the capitalization in her tone, and just held back a roll of her eyes. "I suppose… Considering the way those two terms don't particularly seem to fit."

"Good thing you two fit…"

"What was that?"

"Nothing! Just let me know if you need another of those potions, alright?"

"Actually, now that you mention it, I was wondering… Do you have a way to trap lightning?"

A grin that could have rivaled Loki's own lit up the younger woman's face. "Oh, do I _ever_…"

* * *

_Yes, I'm a massive comic book fan as well as an anime_ _fan. Deal with it.  
And I'm pretty sure we've already established that I have a thing for villains, so me being a pro-Loki-player should not come as a surprise to any of you._

_Ahem._

_To the hardcore fans who want to hurl something at me because Loki doesn't go into smurf-mode when his magic is stolen, I'd like to say that you can't take _all_ of someone's magic and still leave them breathing. Doesn't work like that. So she took _nearly_ all his magic, and he didn't go all Big Blue in the middle of the palace. Happy?_

_Anyway, now that I'm officially out of the Superhero Fan closet, there may or may not be some other of these fics cropping up. I make no promises, though._

_Reviews will be rewarded with big bear hug from Thor!_

* * *

Kára _belongs to: _Madam Sakamoto

_The_ Midgardian Contact_ is actually _Methodical Madness_ in disguise._

Thor and its related characters _belong to:_ Marvel


End file.
